ALIENATING SUPPORT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 213, 7 March 1912, Page 4

ALIENATING SUPPORT.

Some weeks ago Mrs. Pankhufst, a leader of the suffragette movement in Britain, made this forecast: "We shall wait and see what the Government intends to offer. If the concessions are unsatisfactory we are prepared for vigorous .action. There will be a gathering of women from all parts of the country who are prepared for vigorous action.' There will be a gathering of women from all parts of the country, who are ready to sacrifice their dignity on behalf of the cause. We have planned something entirely new in the way of demonstrations, but, of course, it must be kept secret." The secret is now out, the women have sacrificed their dignity, and some of them have also sacrificed personal liberty for some months to come. By their mad-headed conduct in smashing windows right and left, inoffensive shopkeepers' windows as well as windows of establishments belonging to Cabinet Ministers, they have turned support that had been promised when the Conciliation Bill came up for decision in Parliament into' antipathy. The consensus of opinion amongst members of the House of Commons, according to yesterday's wires, was that the suffragettes have no longer any possibility of the present Parliament's support. This defiance of law and order, and disregard of the rights of property, must be put down at all costs, and it is satisfactory to notice that the authorities are taking firm action and imposing stiff sentences on the law-breakers. For every bit of damage done, these misguided and stupid women should be made to pay full compensation, apart altogether from paying the full penalty for breaking the laws of the land. The Premier, it is announced, is ascertaining if damages cannot be recovered from the funds of the suffragettes. If the present laws do not permit it, then they should be quickly amended. No doubt from the present temper of the public there will be no difficulty about effecting an immediate alteration. If damages can thus be recovered, and the offenders severely dealt with, there will soon be an end put to such disgraceful happenings as the cables have been chronicling during the past few days. One of the leaders said some time ago: "We have decided to reach the British voter through his pocket. That is his most sensitive spot, and we are determined thaT our claims shall be heard without further delay. We have tried merely political action with only partial success." In the same way, if these militant propagandists are touched on their most sensitive spot—their pockets —they will soon return to saner and more constitutional methods in the attainment of their end. The British public—any public—will not be dragooned or bounced into granting any reform, and the best friends of the suffragettes, after their latest display of hooliganism, will think twice about helping them or «ntrusting them with the responsibility of participating in the governing of the country. Instead of helping their cause, this'latest outburst will tend to give the cause the greatest setback it has yet had.